Live Review: S8.E1 - Deep Breath

And so it begins. The second half-century, the Doctor's second regeneration cycle, the Twelfth Doctor's era, Series 8 or Season 34... it all begins here with Deep Breath. Following the massive success of the world dominating anniversary special simulcast, Moffat and the crew wanted to capitalise on the show's new found audience and set off on a twelve day world tour to give the first episode of the new series a cinematic preview with Q&A sessions in six countries across all five continents. They were struck by the scale of the show's popularity and recent news that lax security on a server in Miami had lead to the first few episodes leaking and the dubbing delays this lead to for German viewers all seemed like a drop in the ocean. Who fans are loyal and dedicated the whole world over and we don't want spoilers, we want to enjoy the ride. That is why the world tour worked and they were able to screen the first episode each time - the less fortunate majority would be happy to wait a few more days for the television broadcast (again simulcast in several countries) The only disappointment was missing out on the little prequel which we will presumably get to see on DVD/Blu-Ray...

Hopefully, the prequel will fill in the gap nicely, because we last saw the Doctor leaving Trensalore as he completed his regeneration and told Clara he didn't like the colour of his kidneys, then asked if she knew how to fly the TARDIS... we first see them in Deep Breath arriving in Victorian London courtesy of a giant dinosaur...

Live Review: Christmas 2013 - The Time Of The Doctor

They say that event TV is dead and the days of friends and family all watching a show as it is broadcast (either together or individually) are over... Try telling that to the Doctor! Twice in one year, barely a month apart he has dominated the TV ratings (OK, so maybe not the most viewers of the day but certainly the most viewers in its time slot) Hot on the heals of The Day Of The Doctor, this year's Christmas Special (for it has become a tradition that feels like it's been around forever) promised to be a cracking end to the anniversary year. The Doctor was arriving at Trenzalore to face his last days, Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels would be there and we knew, some how, despite the limits set in place during The Deadly Assassin we were going to meet a new Doctor as Matt Smith was due to regenerate into Peter Capaldi.

I had made two predictions ahead of the anniversary special. Whilst watching the prequel The Night Of The Doctor, which included the regeneration of Paul McGann into John Hurt, I predicted that the gap would finally be closed and we would also see John Hurt regenerate into Christopher Ecclestone in The Day Of The Doctor. My second prediction and hope was that Steven Moffat would do something a little different and not leave Capaldi's arrival until the end but instead have the Doctor regenerate two thirds of the way through and let the new Doctor finish things off... My first prediction was correct (though we didn't see the full regeneration sequence) so how would I fair on the second...

Live Review: The Day Of The Doctor

Following the excitement of the 50th Anniversary, and a few other things, I'm finally sitting down to comment on it! I did write a brief overview with minimal spoilers on the following Monday so I'll start with that before the jump...

As for "The Day Of The Doctor" itself, I really enjoyed that too! A little disappointment here and there but in the grand scheme of things it was due to good reasons. Possibly a little too heavy on the comedy but I'd guess it was there to balance out the historical references and convoluted plot - it doesn't matter if you don't quite know what they're babbling on about because they'll say/do something funny in a minute! I have to say I was disappointed by the Zygons though. The way they were used felt sloppy as if it were an after thought - yes the shape shifting dopplganger aspect worked in the plot but the fact that it was Zygons behind it felt like it was just to throw in a successful monster from the past. They looked good, in the brief moments they were seen, but I didn't feel the shape was right - the best part of their original appearance was the way their silhouette was less human despite being a man in a suit, more curve to the spine, bulging chest and practically no shoulders. All things considered, I think Moffat pulled off a lot of great feats in terms of homage, tradition, development and growth and finally closed the gaping hole between TV movie and the shows return - almost...